WHY I DON’T LIKE THE DESHAUN WATSON DEAL
I wrote a passionate column Friday after the trade was made, ripping the Browns for the deal. A day later, I still don’t like it for several reasons:
1. The Browns just made Deshaun Watson the NFL’s highest-paid player in terms of guaranteed money. Guaranteed cash is all that counts. Watson’s new five-year, $230 million deal is fully guaranteed.
2. Not only is it the richest guaranteed deal ever, no one else is close. The next highest is the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers with $150 million guaranteed.
3. The Browns gave all that money to a player who sat out last season due to legal problems. And to a player who is still facing civilian suits from 22 women. And to a player who likely will be suspended for some games in 2022.
4. Even the Watson camp is expecting a suspension. That’s why his contract begins with an immediate $45 million signing bonus. His salary for 2022 is $1 million. Why do that? If he’s suspended, it only comes from the $1 million salary. That’s about $57,000 per game – according to cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot.
5. I wonder how the NFL views that, an obvious move to work around the pain of a possible suspension. The league can’t be happy. The Browns and Watson now wait for what comes next from the NFL.
6. Watson’s annual salary is $46 million. It’s $1 million more than the average salary of the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes ($45 million). Then come the Bills’ Josh Allen and the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott at $40 million. Rodgers is No. 1 at $50 million.
7. On Sept. 5, 2020, Watson signed a four-year, $156 million extension with Houston that included a no-trade clause. He had three years left on that contract, along with the no-trade clause. Watson’s agent convinced the Browns to rip up that deal.
8. Watson’s agent should be agent of the year for pulling this off. These meetings should have been about Watson explaining his side of the charges against him. Certainly, that was a part of it. But it appears it was mostly about Cleveland, Carolina, Atlanta and New Orleans selling themselves to Watson – asking what it would take for him to waive his no-trade clause. It was a massive contract renegotiation.
9. Some fans have asked how this is different from the Browns signing Kareem Hunt. I was against that at the time. But from a business point of view, it was easy. Hunt had been released. He had no leverage. He signed a cheap contract with a few guaranteed dollars. Even his two-year $13 million extension contains clauses for behavior, etc.
10. The Browns also had to send three first-round picks to Houston in the trade. The last time a team traded three first-rounders for a player was in 1989, Minnesota doing it to pick up Herschel Walker from Dallas. Worked well for Dallas, not for Minnesota. To be fair, six total picks were traded to Dallas along with several other players – more than the Browns gave to Houston.
11. The Browns will not have first-round picks in 2022, 2023 and 2024. First-round picks are precious because it gives a team a chance to draft possible starters/even future Pro Bowl players on salary-cap-friendly rookie contracts.
12. The first year (2022) of Watson’s contract counts only $10 million on the salary cap. After that, it gobbles up cap space. This is not baseball (no cap) or the NBA (soft cap). You have to manage your salary cap in the NFL or get in trouble with assembling a roster. Rookie contracts help — that’s why the combination of huge dollars for Watson and the loss of first-rounders is difficult to manage.
13. There will be painful public-relations fallout from the deal. This is one of the biggest/most expensive trades in NFL history that also comes with a lot of moral question marks and problems – at least in my mind.
Deshaun Watson was not indicted by a grand jury last week, but he still faces civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct.PA
A CONTRARY VOICE
Here is an email from Rudy Wachtler:
“All you writers are doing your best to throw a wet blanket on this deal. How many of them enjoyed the Super Bowl halftime show, loved the Kobe Bryant movie, danced to Michael Jackson, watched 70,000 teary-eyed fans at Pittsburgh’s fond farewell to Ben Roethlisbeger? How about Robert Kraft?
“Do you prefer another decade of football hopelessness trying to compete with these guys: Mahomes, Herbert, Allen, Burrow, Jackson, and Wilson? How do we even make the playoffs let alone compete for a Super Bowl?
“We now have five or 10 years of competitive football in Cleveland. Let’s not whine about it. The world is not a perfect place. It’s full of bad guys that we have to live with. All these guys are paid mercenaries anyway; mostly from somewhere else. Do we root for them? Maybe we root for the billionaire owners? No, we root for winning football games in Cleveland.”
Teammates now but not for long. PA
WHY THE BROWNS DID IT
I checked with some NFL sources about why the Browns made this move, and learned this:
1. They are sick of losing. They are sick of not having a QB. And by the end, they were pretty sick of Baker Mayfield – although they’ll never say that. It’s rare a QB at Watson’s age and ability becomes available.
2. Watson was not charged with any crime, after a grand jury hearing. The Browns investigated the civil charges. They have a “comfort level” with those in terms of being willing to add Watson to the team as he deals with the civil charges. They talked to people at Clemson and Houston – including females – about Watson. They had been vetting him for quite a while.
3. Before the charges arose, Watson had a sparkling reputation at Clemson and in his first four years with Houston. He was known as a strong leader, a community guy, a good representative of his various teams.
4. The Browns believe that leadership and other positive traits will prevail, and Watson has learned from this situation. They know he could be suspended for part of 2022. They view this deal as a long-term commitment. They will endure with the present fallout because they believe things will work out.
5. Watson is entering his prime at the age of 26. He suffered an ACL knee injury in 2017, but has been healthy ever since. For his career, he has completed 67.8% of his passes. That’s the best in NFL history for someone who has thrown at least 1,500 passes. They consider him a top-five QB.
6. Watson has thrown 104 TD assists compared to 36 steals. The Browns have not had a QB like him since Bernie Kosar in the late 1980s. He joins a team built to win now, with Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb in the backfield, new receiver Amari Cooper and a good offensive line. The defense also should be a top 10 unit.
7. The Browns know they were not his first choice, or else why would he originally turn them down? But they also know it’s rare to have a chance at the QB at this stage of his career. So they were willing to give him the richest guaranteed contract in NFL history along with sending the three first-round picks to Houston.
8. Watson’s agent let it be known that his client wanted a new contract or he would not waive the no-trade clause. All the teams were talking about a new deal, not just the Browns.
9. Denver made a megatrade for Russell Wilson. Last year, the Rams traded two first-rounders and Jared Goff to Detroit for Matt Stafford – and won a Super Bowl. It was time to make a bold move. If you do that, it should be for a guy who plays the most important position on the field.
10. Coach Kevin Stefanski now has a mobile, smart QB who can run his offense and other types of offenses. If Stefanski can go 11-5 and the Browns beat Pittsburgh in the playoffs with Mayfield in 2020, the ceiling should be much higher with Watson.
11. They had been talking about a way to get Watson for months. This was their “Plan A.” They were determined to make it happen and knew the price would be high. GM Andrew Berry had developed a relationship with Watson’s agents.
12. The Browns know there will be salary-cap and draft consequences for the Watson deal, but it’s worth it to take a chance at a possible franchise-changing QB.
RECENT TERRY PLUTO COLUMNS
Browns move for Deshaun Watson reeks of desperation
Browns should be relieved not to get Deshaun Watson
Brown were more done with Baker Mayfield than most people thought
Why I’m not a big fan of going all in on Deshaun Watson
The remarkable rise of Cleveland native and Akron star Enrique Freeman
MAC Basketball: It should be about more than a single NCAA bid
Akron going to the NCAA’s? How did that happen?
Talkin’ To Myself: I can’t take any more Cavs injuries!
Browns make a wise, bold move with Amari Cooper
MLB’s new labor agreement: The good, the bad and how it impacts the Guardians
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Can we have a rational discussion about the Browns and QBs? – Terry’s Talkin’
What’s behind the recent Cavs struggles? – Terry Pluto’s scribbles
Sincerely, Kent State has a good shot to win the MAC Tournament
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